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June 29, 2011

In exactly a month, the next tournament will be held: the FIFA u20 World Cup in Colombia.
Just as a kind of warm up: a pretty good article by FIFA.com. At the bottom, you may find a download-Link with a pdf-doc. which summarizes the tournament and its matches, of course referee-related.

AFRICA ACCLAIMS GOLDEN GHANAIANS

Making history is not exactly new to Egypt. This is a nation built on, and made legendary by, the extraordinary achievements of an ancient civilisation. It should hardly come as a surprise, therefore, that Egypt's hosting of the FIFA U-20 World Cup should bring about of a new chapter of football history.

Tournament records were rewritten, with more goals than ever before, and an unprecedented number of fans turning out to watch them. And, as you would expect from a competition that has given us the likes of Maradona and Messi, there was an abundance of promising talent on show. Yet, for Africa at least, Egypt 2009 will be not be remembered for any of these achievements. Instead, it will go down in history as the first time that a team from the mother continent came, saw and conquered all at FIFA's second-biggest tournament.

Ghana were the team to inscribe their name in folklore, and worthy winners they were too. Led by the tournament's top scorer and outstanding player, Dominic Adiyiah, the Black Satellites combined strength and skill to devastating effect, scoring 16 times en route to the final. Even when the goals finally dried up in the decider against Brazil, Sellas Tetteh's side merely took that as the signal to display another essential attribute of champions: character.

Holding the Brazilians at bay with ten men for 83 of the 120 minutes was impressive enough; finding the reserves of stamina and strength of mind to triumph in the subsequent penalty shoot-out was nothing short of heroic. The 70,000-strong crowd roared their acclaim, and rightly so. At a time when Africa has been thrust to the very centre of world football, Ghana - with the likes of Adiyiah, Andre Ayew and Ransford Osei all outstanding - had illustrated just why the continent is so confident about its future. As Tetteh told FIFA.com in the aftermath of their triumph: "We have brought joy to a lot of people."

A tournament of surprisesIf Tetteh's Black Satellites were the stars of the show, the supporting cast was almost as impressive. It took the lottery of penalty kicks to deny Brazil the title and some will sympathise with Giuliano who, while praising Ghana, suggested after the final that the better team had lost. Nonetheless, the Brazil No10 - winner of the adidas Bronze Ball - was one of several impressive performers for A Seleção, with the likes of Alex Teixeira, Alan Kardec and Douglas all suggesting that they will be knocking on Dunga's door before long.
Egypt 2009 was also, as FIFA vice-president Jack Warner pointed out, "a tournament of surprises". Few would have guessed when the tournament started, for example, that the semi-final line-up would be completed by Costa Rica and Hungary. The fact that these sides began their campaigns by losing 5-0 and 3-0 to Brazil and Honduras respectively only made their progress all the more remarkable.
Hungary, led by their superb captain, Vladimir Koman, also needed penalties to edge Los Ticos in the battle for bronze, although a place on the podium was probably the least they deserved for their efforts over the course of the tournament. The Central Americans, meanwhile, head for home with their reputation enhanced by some superb performances from the likes of Diego Estrada, Esteban Alvarado and Josue Martinez, most notably in their last 16 triumph over the hosts.
For many, Egypt's early exit ensured that, in the words of Local Organising Committee president Hany Abo Rida, the tournament was always going to be "tinged with disappointment". Yet memories of the Cairo crowd's celebrations as Trinidad and Tobago and Italy were beaten during the group stage will live long in the memory, as will the memorable cameo provided by Bogy against Gli Azzurrini.

The Italians had a couple of stars of their own in Andrea Mazzarani and Mattia Mustacchio, while Czech centre-half Ondrej Mazuch, Germany's Lewis Holtby and Spain duo Aaron Niguez and Fran Merida all helped to keep the flag flying for Europe. Asian enthusiasts, meanwhile, will have noted that Amer Abdulrahman and Koo Ja Cheol were both shortlisted for the end of tournament awards, a well-deserved reward for their roles in UAE and Korea Republic's success in reaching the quarter-finals.
All these players and more contributed to a new record tally of 167 goals, surpassing the tournament's previous benchmark of 165 from Malaysia 1997. With 1,295,586 supporters clicking through the turnstiles, they too made history, comfortably oustripping the previous record attendance of 1,195,239 set at Canada 2007.
At the end of such a successful tournament, it is fitting that the final word should go to its star. He might have fired his team to the title, become the third-top scorer in the tournament's history and been rewarded with the adidas Golden Ball and Golden Shoe, but Dominic Adiyiah was focused solely on the future. "I'm not going to rest on this," he told FIFA.com. "I'm following in the footsteps of the likes of Messi, Saviola and Aguero and I want to emulate their careers - and I'll work hard to do that. I'm preparing to get to the top."
The world will be watching Adiyiah's rise, and the ascent of his fellow Egypt veterans, with great interest.

The tournament will be held in Argentina from 2 July to 24 July.
The host is set in Group A with Bolivia, Costa Rica and Colombia. In Group B, Brazil and Paraguay are the favourites against Venezuela and Ecuador, whereas the Group C seems to be the highlight in the group stage. With Chile, Mexico and Uruguay there are three WC 2010 teams, Peru may have a small outsider chance as their striker Jeff Farfán (Schalke 04) will miss due to injury.
The final will be in Buenos Aires (El Monumental) with maximal 65.645 visitors.

Naturally, the appointments during the tournament will be published here.

In 30 minutes, the German Bibiana Steinhaus will blow the whistle in USA's first match at the competition. Her permanent lines(wo)men Marina Wozniak and Katrin Rafalski will naturally accompany her in Dresden. Probably, Steinhaus is the most experienced referee at this World Cup, along with Kari Seitz.

Impressive career path
Born in Bad Lauterbach in the beautiful Harz Mountains in 1979, she followed her father's path and became referee in 1995. Since that point, her career did not stop rising. At first, he had only to absolve two years in women's Bundesliga, before she moved up into male football in 2001. In 2003 she whistled the female DFB Cup final and only two years later, she got the FIFA badge in women's football.Then - in 2007 - she moved up into 2nd Bundesliga. This promotion led to some turmoil à la "How can a woman, who in general does not understand anything of football, move up into male professional football?!" How often had one to bear such stupid comments. However, she confirmed this promotion and the ones who had doubts remained silently...
A few weeks ago, some trouble came up about Steinhaus as e.g. Steffi Jones, LOC member, argued the case for a promotion of Bibiana into German Bundesliga. Many others supported Jones. One has to take her last season's appointments into consideration. Many important matches in 2nd Bundesliga, matches that were important for teams moving up and down (e.g. Augsburg vs. Bochum). A very funny thing about her insets in 2nd Bundesliga is the fact that - without any doubt - the players behave in another way to the referee. It is a huge difference whether it is Steinhaus or e.g. Winkmann.That's why this suggestion of Jones did not seem to be that wrong but it was pretty reasonable. Herbert Fandel however, head of DFB's referee comitee, was not influenced by all this. He said that no referee in 2nd Bundesliga deserved a promotion, Steinhaus either. How can one publish that 4 days ahead her first match? But as one knows her, he will not be influenced, he is a pro and that with only 32 years.

Record-championship River Plate from Buenos Aires dismounted last weekend from the Primera Division. After that, the supporters who could hardly believe their eyes razed the stadium and its environment to the ground.
In the first leg of this play-off match against Belgrano Córdoba River Plate lost 0-2, in the second leg, there was still a bit hope as they led with 1-0. However, in the 61st minute, Córdoba could equalize. At this point, some strange odds happened: The referee, Sergio Pezzotta, awarded a dubios penalty in the 69th minute for River Plate which was missed by the striker.
The background? After the match, Pezzotta told a Tribunal of AFA that he was threatened to death by River Plate supporters during the half-time. He mentioned that they said "We will kill. A penalty kick or we will kill you". Pezzotta is under police protection to date.
44 seconds before the final whistle, Pezzotta abandoned the match due to a lack of safety when supporters stormed the field.
The question which naturally comes up is: is Pezzotta able to appear at Copa America which is held in Argentina? But of course, this is not the major question...

June 27, 2011

Benito Archundia is something of a crowd-stopper on the streets of Mexico. People take one look at him and burst into smiles of recognition. They often stop right where they are and ask if they can be photographed with him. Yet this is not a famous player, a former El Tri star or multiple trophy winner with a Mexican club. Archundia has found a place in peoples' hearts in a very different way, by becoming the most famous referee in Mexico. Indeed, he rates as one of the best match officials in the world, with a clutch of records to his name.

Back in 2006, Archundia became the first ever referee to take charge of five matches at a single FIFA World Cup™. At the 2010 finals in South Africa, the 45-year-old was assigned to three more matches, thereby equalling the record of eight games at the finals shared by Joel Quiniou and Jorge Larrionda. He has twice controlled the final of the FIFA Club World Cup, and also officiated at the 1996 and 2004 Olympic Football Tournaments, and the 2001 and 2009 FIFA Confederations Cups.

During the FIFA U-17 World Cup 2011 in his home country, Archundia spoke exclusively to FIFA.com in Queretaro, one of the venues for the tournament, where the match official discussed his career, his most memorable moments, and his goals for the future.

Benito Archundia, here we are at FIFA hotel in Queretaro. What are your duties here at the FIFA U-17 World Cup?FIFA invited me to the tournament as a referee observer, i.e. to help and support the referees. It's a good experience for me, and another step in my career, as I'm currently preparing to become an instructor responsible for training young referees. This World Cup is a good chance for Mexico to show visitors from all over the world our beautiful country. This is, after all, my home.

What are your plans for the future?I have a few training courses, before setting off for the U–20 World Cup in Colombia. After that, my association is sending me to Europe for two months, to England, Spain, Italy and Germany to be precise, to observe how referees are trained there. I'll come back to Mexico and see if I can put what I've learned into practice.

Has any particular match during your career stuck in the memory?I have lots of memories, but what people seem to recall most of all is the 2006 World Cup semi-final between Germany and Italy. It was a really big match, and I have one very special personal memory. Italy had just scored their second, I'd signalled a goal, and Marco Materazzi ran over and embraced me. At that moment, I thought to myself: ‘What's going on here? I'm the ref, not a player’. Then I relaxed, as I thought no-one would be looking, because they'd all be focused on the Italian celebrations. However, the next day's papers were full of photos of that moment. I asked Materazzi about it later, and he said I'd done very well that night, and why shouldn't you congratulate the referee? That's a really nice memory for me personally.

How would you describe your approach to controlling a match?I played before becoming a referee, so I do understand when players get upset or overjoyed. My guiding principle was always that the players are more important than the referee. That's how I understood my role on the field of play. I favoured a good relationship with the players, and always tried to show understanding in certain situations, although I never hesitated to pull out the red card when necessary. However, you can do a great deal beforehand to prevent matters reaching that stage. If you show respect to the players, they'll show respect to you.

Why did you become a ref, and why didn't you pursue a playing career?I was certainly a good player and they gave me the number 10. I played throughout my time at school and university, and I was always the captain. But when I did referee, people told me I could be a good player, but also a very good ref. So I made my mind up at the age of 16, and it's turned out a very good decision.

You've refereed a record eight FIFA World Cup matches. Are you proud of that?Of course, although I wasn't really aware of it at the time. The first time, my preparations were geared at the World Cup, and not at setting records. I was hoping to take charge of one or two matches, but when they announced the line-up for the semi-finals, I was asked how come I’d been given five games. So I said maybe it was because I was doing well. That's when I realised it must be a record, and I found it unbelievable.

How would you describe the relationship between the fans and the referees in your home country?The fans support their team during a match, and voice their displeasure with the referee's decisions. That's how it is all over the world, but afterwards, the fans recognise a good performance by the ref. I remember a game in Torreon ten years ago, when a fan gave me a volley of abuse while I was on my way to the referee's room after the match. An hour later, as I was leaving the stadium, I saw the same fan waiting for me with his entire family. He came up and said to me: ‘I respect you and you’re a great referee. We're really happy with you. Could you sign my shirt and pose for a photo with me?’ That was the moment when I really understood. You protest during the match, but express satisfaction with the ref afterwards.

What's the appeal of refereeing?I love football. Mind you, lots of my friends say they love football, but they always say no when I ask them if they'd like to become referees. But I became a ref because of my love for football.

I am a former FIFA assistant referee.
I joined several tournaments, including a CONFED Cup and a World Cup.
I ran the lines at my countryman's side for a long time, however, my countryman got only one match at his latest tournament.
Who am I?

June 26, 2011

Although it is not the first match played in WWC 2011 which is going to start today, it is officially confirmed that this match is the opener, the match 1: Germany against Canada. About 73.700 visitors are expected in Berlin's Olympia Stadium, this value is the highest in WWC's history held in Europe ever. Only two matches may top that, these matches took place in New Jersey and LA in WWC 1999 (USA-DEN, 78.972//USA-CHN, 90.185).

In the middle of this breathtaking event is the 32 years-old Australian Jacqui Melksham (l.) along with her experienced assistant referees Allyson Flynn and Sarah Ho who both run the lines in the highest Australian male football league.
When considering the fact that Melksham did not appear in any of last year's tournaments, neither at u17 WWC in Trinidad & Tobago, nor at u20 WWC in Germany, it is slightly odd that she even joins this world cup. Many expected Hong Eun Ah, AFC's female referee of the year 2010, however, Ah was replaced by her countrywoman Cha Sung Mi.
Australia's football association may have a certain influence in FIFA's female referee comitee with regard to last WWC's appointments as well. In 2007, Tammy Ogston - coming from Australia, too - got most of the matches including three matches with German involvement and the final between Brazil and Germany (0-2).
It was clear that the referee for the opener will probably not come from CONCACAF or UEFA zone. Therefore, there were three possible and reasonable candidates to my mind: Silvia Reyes from Peru, Etsuko Fukano from Japan and finally Jacqui Melksham. Latter is in final now, hopefully, she will be savouring this event and will do her job well.

UPDATE: After two perfomances, I have to update my "pre-tournament-impressions" a bit...in Germany vs. Canada, she disappointed us due to inconsistent card policy and partisanship (Canada). Nonetheless, she was given the best and hardest match in women's football later, USA vs. Brazil. And again: a doubtful perfomance with many weaknesses and a poor assistant referee Allyson Flynn, even though the bigger calls were ok.

June 25, 2011

Who does not remember the curious incident in the 1966 World Cup’ final between Germany and England? As German, I am still angry about the man from Uzbekistan…

Who does not remember the curious incident in last year’s World Cup last 16 encounter between Germany and England which occurred in the 38th minute? One thing is sure, the assistant referee Mauricio Espinoza from Uruguay will never forget it.

And just for remembering the situation can be seen in the picture on the right hand-side, made by some talented guys who had seen the situation a bit differently..

What happened? In both situations, the ball crossed obviously the line, respectively the ball crossed probably not the line. The assistant referees both made the wrong decision, England became world champion in 1966, Germany ensured 2010 a debacle for England. However, everyone knows this (hi)story, so what’s the difference?

There is one big difference indeed, last summer, this incident could have been avoided. Whereby?

By modern technique which was not available for the linesman from the then Soviet Union in 1966.

We have the technique, therefore: why do not we (better: the decision makers) use it? There might be a lot of opportunities that even prestigious referees like Markus Merk demand and there are certainly a couple of good reasons for and against the use of technical aids in football which should be evaluated in the following.

An example of technical aids in another kind of sport - Tennis

At the moment, the tennis world looks at Wimbelon’s Grand Slam tournament. After a few years, one thing may not be missing: the “Hawk-Eye”. How does it function? Well, at first this computer system is supposed to show exactly whether a played ball was good (= touched the line) or out. It is based on at least four high-speed-video-processors whose information is transformed into data which exactly defines e.g. the angle of a ball. Therefore, the computer system is allowed to collect this data and transmit it into an official review. Each player has got an amount of three “challenges” per set, if the player is successful with his challenge, he still has the same number as before. If the challenge shows that the chair umpire was correct, the player looses one challenge. If a match goes into Tie Break, each player gets one additional challenge.

Watch this video to get an impression of how it operates during a match. Of course, the influenced players’ and umpire’ names may not miss: Safin vs. Federer, Chair Umpire Pascal Maria (FRA).

Finally, it has to be mentioned that these decisions are not 100 % safe. There may be a discrepancy of maximal 4 mm. For this reason, this technique is very controversial..

But let us return to “our” kind of sports, i.e. football. Naturally, the question of whether one may implement technical aids in a football match only concerns goal decisions (whether the ball crossed the line). If other decisions – like offside – would be challenged by the teams, this would definetely destroy the match. So which opportunities are available?

A large number: video cameras who observe the goal line. Perhaps each team could use this a specific number of times, however, how should it be in praxis? Interrupting the match etc., this technique is too elaborate. Therefore, we can leave the video device out of consideration.

As I mentioned Markus Merk above, I naturally have totake up UEFA’s efforts in this field: AARs = Additional Assistant Referees. This “system” exists for two seasons in Europe League and one season in Champions League. Pierluigi Collina, member of UEFA’s referee comitee, hails this system with the words “Now, we see more”. No Pierluigi, that is absolutely wrong. I had the chance to visit Champions-League matches of my favourite club Schalke 04 last year and I naturally paid a lot of attention to the behaviour of those additional assistant referees. I often asked myself: Why are they there? What is the reason? They saw nothing, had no spunk to influence the match and in addition to this, many decisions which were made in the last season by these AARs were terribly wrong (e.g. Tottenham-Twente, Terje Hauge). Of course, there are cases as well when they saw a ball crossing the line and that is of course a good aspect.

What about a chip or sensor in the ball? Why not..this little thing would be at least exactly and could be connected with the referee’s headset-system. The question is whether 100 % safety could be ensured, but without any doubt, the percentage would be much higher then humane eyes.

Nevertheless, this system would be only for those “goal-or-not-decisions”, but ok, that is our problem here.

And finally, there is one big argument against any technical aid and I often thought about it and came to the result, that the following thought is not that wrong:

22 players on the pitch make mistakes, their decisions and mistakes lead to goals or other things which characterizes a match. Why should not be the other members of a match – the referees – be allowed to make mistakes? It is a kind of sports that depends on humans and humane decisions.

By the way, if the Wembley Goal had not appeared, something would have been missing over the years in German football history.

Taking everything into consideration, only one technical aid is possible to my mind: a chip in the ball. The main question is whether this technique influences the humanity of football or not. In my opinion, ensuring correct goal decisions is absolutely necessary, even since money plays such a big role in football.

June 24, 2011

Joel Aguilar has been appointed to referee the Gold Cup final between USA and Mexico.

After some confusing sources which said that Gantar would be in final, Aguilar appeared on pitch.
For the WC 2010 referee (only 4th Official) it was his first Gold Cup Final and what we can say just now is that he did well.

The Italian Paolo Tagliavento has been appointed to referee the final of UEFA U21 Euro 2011 between Switzerland and Spain in Denmark. He will be assisted by Damien McGraith from Ireland and Vytauntas Simkus from Lithuania. Robert Schörgenhofer will be the Fourth Official. For Tagliavento it is the third match after having already blown the whistle in the group stage matches between Denmark and Belarus and England vs. Czech Republic as well.
Tagliavento may deal with a large experience, which has arises out of several Europe League matches, the appointment as Additional Assistant Referee in Europe League final 2010 and one Champions League match (Arsenal-Partizan, 2011).
Apart from that, UEFA also selected the officials for the 3rd place match between Belarus and Czech Republic its winner is allowed to join the Olympic Games 2012 in London.
A complete interview with UEFA.com can be found here on uefa's website

The referees for the coming UEFA Under 19 EURO in Romania have been appointed. As always the referee guild will consist of six referees coming from different countries and eight assistant referees. Moreover, two Fourth Officials have been selected who come from the host nation. The complete list follows: